Marvel Avengers Assemble

Viewer Rating:ging-grr has rated Marvel Avengers Assemble rating: 4 Star

Originally when I heard the concept of an Avengers movie I was wary as many of the primary characters didn't have the drawing power of Batman or Spider-man, but as Marvel started to roll out the movie introductions to them things looked good. Iron Man was a huge success and certainly took me by surprise as to the strength of the plot. I'm glad they decided to ignore Norton's Hulk movie, as while the Hulk was well done, I thought they totally missed the character of Banner. Iron Man 2 kept up the momentum and then came the Thor movie, directed by none other than Kenneth Brannagh and Captain America. Each of the movies slowly began to dispel my doubts and as nerd god Joss Whedon was at the helm, there was little doubt in my mind that this would be a masterpiece.
So I finally got to see the Avengers Assemble on it's opening weekend after avoiding all spoilers from those friends who had seen it and I couldn't help but feel a little excited as my inner (not so well hidden) nerd came to the forefront. So did it live up to expectations?
I have to say yes. It is 2 and a half hours of sheer comic book fun. Each character is given a very share of screen time and almost all have the chance to deliver a great line. For me the casting of Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk was surprising but finally Marvel have found their big screen version of these characters. Eric Bana had previously done what Norton didn't in his Hulk, he got the Banner aspect close to what it needed to be. However Ruffalo took it one step further and was brilliant in the role and the Hulk biits are probably some of the best in the movie.
The rest of the cast are great too. Robert Downey Jr. once again is brilliant as the arrogant but charming Stark/Iron Man. Chris Hemsworth once again wields his hammer with aplomb. Chris Evans plays the Captain as a man who feels out of time as he would be. Jeremy Renner is great as Hawkeye and even Scarlett Johansson is not annoying. Tom Hiddleston plays the megalomaniac Loki excellently again and the support cast all do well.
The script is strong with some really witty lines and Joss Whedon handles direction masterfully. If you are a fan of action movies you will enjoy this and fans of the comics will not be disappointed either. Well worth spending 2 and a half hours in a dark room with some smelly geeks.

Review published on the 10 May 2012 20:31